


Ghostly

by Inu_Sama



Series: BLEACH [1]
Category: Bleach
Genre: Arrancar Kurosaki Ichigo, M/M, POV Multiple, Slow To Update, Time Skips, unreliable author
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-09
Updated: 2019-01-09
Packaged: 2019-10-07 05:07:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17359574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Inu_Sama/pseuds/Inu_Sama
Summary: "Such a lively little thing, aren't you?" The monster rumbled, pulling Ichigo away from its face when the boy landed a kick to its masked snout. The hollow laughed again, spindly fingers curling around Ichigo's whole body until he couldn't move."Yes, I think I'll take you back with me for a little snack for later." And that was the last he would see of the Living World for many years to come.





	1. A light Snack

Ichigo was scared.

There had been a girl sitting on the ledge, the rushing river skimming her mary janes from below like a warning and an invitation all at the same time. He remembered the distinct pitch of his mother's panicked voice as he slipped from her reaching fingers and raced down the hill. The girl was in danger! He had to save her! He was only 6 but he knew that sitting so close to the edge like that was bound to make her fall into the water.

But when he got there the girl flew up into the darkening sky, the hungry red eyes of a monster eclipsing her form. The thing was huge, its teeth stretched into a wide grin and were bigger than his  _ dad _ . Ichigo let out a startled cry and fell onto his butt, the wet grass soaking into the seat of his jeans and making his hands slick.

"Ichigo! Get away from it! Run!" His mother screamed, her heels discarded on the road as she slid down the hill to his side, enveloping him in her strong arms. She started pushing them back up towards the road, moving as fast as she could without moving her eyes from the monster. The monster was watching them and laughed, taking steps forward the more his mother pulled them back as if it were a game. Then the girl, who had been dangling lifelessly from the monster's head, porcelain face expressionless to the world - disappeared as if she was never there.

As if she were a  _ ghost _ .

Ichigo had always been able to see the dead, sometimes so vividly that he couldn't tell them apart from anyone else. Like now when he thought she was in trouble. Instead it had been a  _ lie _ , a lie that he believed so  _ easily  _ and now his mother was in the middle of it - trying to protect  _ him  _ when it should be the other way around. But he was scared, Tatsuki was right, he was a crybaby coward and now his mum was going to get hurt because of it. 

His bottom lip trembled at the thought and he clutched the front of her blouse, a distressed whine escaping his lips before he could stop it. Long fingers combed through his hair almost absently, an automatic response to try and comfort him even as his mother yelled at the monster, told it to go away and leave them alone. It didn't make the sick feeling in his stomach go away. 

The monster only laughed more, its grin stretching to impossible lengths.

"I am a  _ hollow _ , stupid woman. I cannot simply  _ leave  _ after putting so much effort into getting you here." It sneered like it was obvious, like his mother was  _ stupid _ . A dark fire stirred in the center of his chest and he pushed out of her arms with a scowl.

"Shut up! My mum's way better than you'll  _ ever _ be!" He shouted, hands balled into little fists as tears gathered in the corners of his eyes. The beast blinked its great big red eyes slowly, as if it hadn't expected Ichigo to speak, much less stand up to it. Then everything happened in a blur, his world spinning and his ears ringing with his mother's screams. Screaming for him. Then all was quiet, a heavy contrast that unsettled him and made his finger numb with fear.

Suddenly he was pulled off the ground, whatever had been on top of him rolled back with a wet thump against the grass. He was held before the 'hollow' by the back of his jacket like an errant pup and Ichigo glared at it, struggling to reach the claws behind him to do...  _ something _ . But it was no use, the beast laughed at his attempts.

"Such a lively little thing, aren't you?" The monster rumbled, pulling Ichigo away from its face when the boy landed a kick to its masked snout. The hollow laughed again, spindly fingers curling around Ichigo's whole body until he couldn't move.

"Yes, I think I'll take you back with me for a little snack for later." And that was the last he would see of the Living World for many years to come.


	2. Hueco Mundo, Day 3285(Ten years later)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ten years after the first chapter.
> 
> ~~ means a change in pov  
> ~~~~ means change in scene and/or time skip

"My, my - look at  _ you~ _ " A deep voice purred and Ichigo whirled, claws just barely grazing a tanned throat before the Shinigami fell back a few steps in surprise. He knew it was a shinigami by the way the man was dressed in a black Shihakusho with sandals and a sword strapped to his hip. Though he didn't know what the white haori was for, did it signify rank? He'd heard the other hollows complaining about them enough that Ichigo knew to be wary of that seemingly pleasant smile. 

Then again, he was wary of everything here.

The reaper gave his hunched form an appraising look, brows raising at the half eaten carcass he was protecting. His eyes trailed over the blood on Ichigo's thick black talons and up to the blackened blood smeared across pale cheeks. Silvery white hair fell over Ichigo's shoulder when he shifted, bare feet digging into the grey sand in preparation for an attack. 

He had no doubt this man would not hesitate to cut him down, it was what their species did for a living after all--and by this point Ichigo was as much a hollow as any other. Then glowing yellow eyes finally met dark brown and Ichigo felt his insides quiver, his instincts whispering  _ 'danger' _ into the shell of his ear. This was no ordinary shinigami(not that he'd ever met one before, he'd never been out of Hueco Mundo).

When the man took a step forward, Ichigo scuttled back a few steps before standing, the uneasy feeling in his gut lessening a small bit with the added height. The shinigami's eyes raked appreciatively down the length of Ichigo's very naked body before making eye contact again with a smirk.

"Well, Kurosaki Ichigo, you've certainly….  _ developed  _ better than I had expected, being in a place like this for almost a decade."

Ichigo's head tilted to the side slightly with a frown pulling down silver eyebrows. The body language of the other male might not have been radiating anything but open curiosity and amusement, but Ichigo was not going to relax. Some of the more crafty hollows had tried to fool him like that before, intentions turning on a dime to try and catch him off guard. He also knew better than to trust the intentions of a being whose literal purpose in life was to kill things like him. Whatever this shinigami was playing at, Ichigo would be ready.

"How do you know….my name?" He asked almost reluctantly, voice husky from disuse, it tickled his throat unpleasantly.

~~

Aizen couldn't believe his luck, literally stumbling upon the one person he'd been searching for entirely by accident. He'd been looking for more Hollows with unusually high reitsu levels to add to his ranks but….this was  _ much better _ . The Captain smiled pleasantly at the wary boy, insides practically  _ burning  _ with curiosity to know just how Kurosaki Ichigo had managed to naturally achieve what Aizen had spent years trying to cultivate; an Arrancar transformation. Oh, he knew as soon as the brat was born that he was special - how could he  _ not  _ when he was the one to push his parents together?

But this….this was simply  _ magnificent _ .

"I know your name because I knew your father, you look  _ a lot _ like the clan he comes from." Almost too much for it to be anything but eerie, he was practically Kaien's doppelganger. Aizen strangled the urge to cackle when his words only made the boy? Hollow? even more wary of him, his prey forgotten at his feet as he took several steps back. Let it not be said the boy wasn't smart.

"Why are you here then?" Kurosaki asked, seemingly filing away the revelation that his father was a shinigami for the time being. Aizen was impressed by how unruffled the boy was, how he was able to focus entirely on the current situation, the  _ threat _ , no matter what he said. Growing up in a place like Hueco Mundo where their personal motto was 'eat or be eaten' had probably given Kurosaki more than just his new looks.

Aizen suddenly wanted to see how he would do in the Living World.

_ 'Oh, but that would just be perfect!' _ Aizen thought with unholy glee. Kisuke would probably shit himself! Kurosaki seemingly picked up on his shift in mood and tensed, a long black sword with a chain on the hilt materialised in his right hand and Aizen stared at it before grinning outright. Oh yes, sending him to the Living World was going to be far more entertaining than would be appropriate. Aizen drew his own zanpakuto, pointing it at the boy who was now glaring at him and twisted it. Like a key had been turned, a large black doorway ripped itself open below Kurosaki's feet.

With a shout, his greatest creation fell into the darkness, unable to react fast enough to save himself.

"I look forward to seeing how things play out, until next time  _ Ichigo~ _ "


	3. Landfall at Urahara's

Kisuke was waving a cat toy around, trying to get a very unimpressed Yoruichi to play along when it happened. There was an incredible amount of spiritual pressure right before a Garganta ripped open the sky above the road, a lithe figure tumbling out and rolling onto its feet. 

Kisuke couldn't help but stare at the very naked Hollow? Shinigami? Spirit? Feeling his face heat up at the long planes of hard white muscle. Yoruichi was just as stunned as him, though her cat form hid any sort of embarrassing reaction.

The boy blinked glowing yellow eyes open and immediately shut them, hissing at the admittedly weak sunlight filtering down through the dissipating clouds.

"What the actual  _ Fuck?! _ " He didn't normally swear, but Kisuke felt it was a justified reaction to seeing this…. _ being _ be dropped literally  _ on his doorstep _ . Was it on purpose? An attack? Or just unfortunate(for both parties) coincidence? 

Yoruichi snorted (as much as a cat could) before she sat down, tail waving idly behind her. Though his gaze shifted from her relaxed(how the fuck can she be so fucking calm about this?! Hot strangers tumbling out of the sky was NOT okay!) form back to the Hollow(?) because his quiet admission had apparently drawn his attention.

The being hissed something like a curse before drawing the pure black katana Kisuke had been too distracted to notice before, a chain on the hilt clinking softly in the sudden silence. Kisuke could already feel a migraine coming on.

~~

Where the FUCK was he?! Everything was too bright, there were too many colours and it was too fucking warm here--

There was someone in front of him.

Ichigo hissed, angry at himself for letting his guard down in such an uncertain situation and brought sword up in preparation for the attack…the attack that didn't come. Despite the harsh light cooking his retinas, Ichigo fixed his gaze on the stranger. He didn't  _ look  _ like a shinigami, but he wasn't Hollow either…just what…

Then he saw the cat sitting next to him and it all clicked into place and Ichigo felt his non-existent heart thump painfully as he slid to his knees. He sucked in a shuddering breath, Zangetsu disappearing back into his soul to no doubt manage the earthquake his Inner World was probably going through as he realised…

He was home.

Ichigo was  _ home _ .


End file.
